I make no money off of this work of fiction. One Piece is the work of Oda Eiichiro and Naruto is the work of Masashi Kishimoto.
Ninja Pirates
Chapter Twenty-eight: Home Stretch
Merissa growled low in her throat. Watching Reecheru take off like that was rather irritating. "If she wants to aggravate her injuries then let her," Merissa said. She was looking at Baby 5, who had made a move to catch up. Merissa pointed further down the street. A group of citizens was trying to outrun the cage by climbing up the plateau. They were being stopped by a group of Doflamingo soldiers. "We should help those people first. They're not as strong, plus Reecheru isn't a child. She can handle herself if worse comes to worse."
The group of colosseum fighters moved towards the newest commotion. One of the soldiers was bragging about how no one was good enough to be saved and that they were all on death row as commanded by Doflamingo. His posturing didn't last long, however. The people below were shocked when the man fell forward with eyes bulging. He had been hit on the top of the head. As he fell, the people looked up to see Bortolomeo had taken his place. "You're in the friggin way stragglers," he yelled. The people cheered for the colosseum fighters making an entrance.
A few of the fighters were confused about the new turn of events. They thought that their injuries were too extensive for them to be moving around like they were. The people started cheering for the people they were now perceiving as heroes. "Oi!" Sai called out to them. "Save all the cheers for later. Those men among you with even a small amount of strength left, follow me!" Baby 5 stood just behind him, admiring his 'take charge' attitude. It was then that the people started to notice that the cage had started to shrink even faster.
"All of you!" Zoro yelled out. "PUSH!" Reecheru pushed against his back as hard as she could. She was careful not to dig her elbow into his spine. This meant that a majority of her left arm, if not all of it, was pushing on him. That brought her face to a close and personal view of the expanse of that same back. Every time she took a breath she was filled with the scent of Zoro. Underneath the sweat and dust from the recent fights was the scent of steel and a musk that was distinctly male. It was powerful and heady, forcing Reecheru to do her best to ignore it. She had to concentrate on putting the last of her strength in buying Luffy time.
Kin'emon and Kanjuro had joined in on either side of Zoro. They had coated their weapons in Haki as well. "It might be better," Zoro said towards Reecheru. "If you got in front and helped push on the swords instead of my back."
"It might if I could actually use both hands."
Zoro moved one elbow up and motioned for Reecheru in front of him anyway. She helped by pushing Zoro's left wrist. It was the best that she could manage at this point. His eye zeroed in on the sling that her right arm was in. "How did that happen?" he asked.
Reecheru blinked up at him, surprised by the sudden change in subject. "Oh I'll tell you all about it!" Reecheru shifted her eyes nervously to the side, looking for the person that had just spoken. Sure enough, there was Merissa right next to Zoro on his right. Kin'emon was glaring at her, as if she offended him. Reecheru had the distinct feeling that Merissa pushed him out of the way. As Merissa was grinning at them sinisterly she was also pushing on the cage with some sort of blue block.
"I hardly think this is the time," Reecheru dodged. "Less talking and more pushing!"
"I can multi-task," Merissa's grin grew. Her eyes then shifted to look at Zoro who was looking to her for an explanation. "You remember the attack that Reecheru used to help you cut off Pica's legs?" She gestured with her head to Reecheru. She waited for Zoro to nod at her. "That's what happened."
Zoro looked down at Reecheru. "That attack hurt your arm?"
"Yes," Reecheru quickly responded. "It's not a big deal right now though. We need to concentrate on the cage."
"Oh no you don't," Merissa snapped. "This isn't going to be so easily dismissed." She sent a heated glare to Reecheru. In a much more calmer expression she turned to Zoro. He was looking to her for the explanation now since it was obvious that Reecheru wasn't going to go into detail. "That attack cut the cells in Reecheru's arm. The longer she held it the more damage it did. If she held on to it too long it would have reached many vital organs and I wouldn't have been able to help her. As it stands, we still don't know if I was able to save her arm enough for her to be able to use it in the future."
Zoro's head whipped down to glare at Reecheru so fast that she was almost sure it would come flying off. "Why didn't you say anything about it!?" he demanded.
"It wasn't strictly necessary," Reecheru dodged. "That particular attack has been mastered before. It's just a matter of me learning to master it as well. I can't do that unless I use the attack."
"Don't try to sugar coat it!" Merissa snapped. "It was a stupid move."
"It stopped Pica from getting away!" Reecheru snapped. "He would have continued his rampage if something wasn't done. Maybe Zoro could have stopped him from escaping into the ground, or maybe my attack was the extra advantage that was needed in ensuring victory. We'll never know at this point. The one thing that I do know is that one arm is a small price to pay for the lives of others!"
Merissa stopped giving a lecture to Reecheru. When lecturing Reecheru, she usually let it slide when she's in the wrong. Though she does have a breaking point and will allow you to lecture her only so much. The only people that can get away with lecturing her without her snapping back is the Hokage and her parents. Although Reecheru's parents have been on the receiving end of their own lecture from her now that she's an adult. Merissa scoffed and faced the cage again. "Whatever," she said. "It's not my job to keep you in line anymore." Merissa gave Zoro a grin and wink. "It's his."
"That's what I'm afraid of," Reecheru muttered under her breath. She then looked at the block that Merissa was using. She noted that the cage wasn't damaging it. "What is that and where did you get it?"
"Franky and the Tontattas pointed it out to me," Merissa answered. "When I made it clear that I was going to come and help close to you I was told this would help. It's a block made out of sea prism stone, the only material that devil fruit users are useless against. It came loose from the factory building from all the explosions and from the cage pushing so relentlessly on it. It was just luck that it was still close by."
"That's enough talking," Zoro cut in. "We'll worry about all of this later. Right now... PUUUUUUUUUSH!"
"I think that the constriction is starting to slow down a bit," Kin'emon pointed out.
"Forsooth!" Kanjuro declared. Reecheru and Merissa looked at one another. Reecheru mouthed the word as a question. Merissa mouthed the word 'later'. "Now that you mention it I believe that I can feel something similar."
The clicking of traditional sandals drew the attention of the small group. Zoro was the first to recognize the one approaching. It was the Marine Admiral Fujitora. "You!" he snapped out. "What are you here to..."
"Oh my my," Fujitora interrupted. "Unfortunately I cannot see you, whoever you may be. But..." Fujitora coated his own sword and pushed against the cage as well. "I guess you can't leave the insane to their own devices. I may not have the strength left in these old bones, but allow me the honor of assisting you!"
Like a flood, marines and citizens alike started advancing to the group that was pushing against the cage. "All units," one commanding marine shouted. "I don't care who you are, move to support the cage pushing!"
Zoro turned his head to look at them. "Those of you that can't use Haki to the factory," he ordered. He positioned himself so that he was hiding Reecheru from their view. From the cheers from across the square it sounded like they were pushing the other end of the cage as well. "Everyone together...PUUUUUSH!" After a moment the cage stopped advancing.
Zoro gave a chuckle of triumph. That was soon silenced as the cage started moving in once again. "It's moving again!" someone cried.
"Just now," Sai spoke softly.
"It stopped for a second," Elizabello confirmed.
"So it really can be stopped," Hajrudin added.
"Doro-senpai!" Bortolomeo gushed. "You knew it all along!"
"Don't let up!" Zoro yelled. "Keep pushing! We gotta buy as much time as we can!"
"If it contracts anymore than this," Reecheru added. "Too many lives will be lost!" A round of agreement filled the air. The group struggled to keep the cage from closing in on them further.
A voice then came over the loud speaker. It was the colosseum announcer, Gatz. He was proclaiming that there was one man that was the only hope for Dressrosa. The colosseum fighter that they all knew as Lucy. He revealed to the entire country that it was actually Straw Hat Luffy under the disguise. He further revealed that Luffy had promised, once he got his Haki back, that he would K.O. Doflamingo in one punch.
"You better Luffy," Zoro grumbled. "If you don't, we won't be able to hold out for much longer."
Reecheru looked under Zoro's shoulder. Her Byakugan was activated. "This is bad," she announced. "I can see Doflamingo's energy. It's right next to Viola and that girl we were told is Riku's grand-daughter." Merissa's gaze shifted to look at Reecheru as she listened to the information. Even Zoro had grown quieter as Reecheru spoke. "He's using his string to hold Viola captive while controlling Rebecca. It looks like she's struggling to keep from doing something, but her posture indicates she's holding a sword aimed at Viola." A chant started spreading out across the city for Lucy. Gatz began the ten second countdown. "He has to make it in time."
In an instant, a profound silence stretched across the area. Reecheru let out the breath she didn't know she had been holding. "Well?" Merissa asked impatiently.
"Luffy made it," Reecheru reported. "His energy signature suddenly switched with Viola's just as the sword was coming down."
Zoro looked in the same direction that Reecheru was with a grin on his face. "We've been waiting for you," he muttered. "COME ON LUFFY!"
"His energy has spiked," Reecheru announced. "It looks like this might be it. Luffy's up in the air and Doflamingo is giving chase." Those that were closest to Reecheru listened closely as she reported what she could 'see'. "Doflamingo is launching another string attack, except he's pouring so much more power into it then he ever has. Perhaps he intends this to be his last attack. Luffy's doing the same, putting so much energy into his left arm." Reecheru fell silent at this point. Luffy and Doflamingo were yelling at each other so loudly that everyone could hear them.
"Beasts that cannot be tamed must be put down," Doflamingo's voice rang out. "Sixteen Sacred Bullets of the Assassin! God Thread!"
"King Kong Gun!" Luffy's attack went off at the same time as Doflamingo's. Luffy's arm knocked away the killer thread like it was nothing more than simple yarn. His fist broke through the string shield that Doflamingo hid behind and hit the blonde man squarely in the jaw. Doflamingo broke the sound barrier as his body fell from the sky and hit the ground with enough impact to feel like an earthquake.
Luffy let out a strange breath, like he was blowing out smoke. His body shifted back to his normal size suddenly and his eyes rolled to the back of his head as he lost consciousness. Before he could fall very far, Law used his ability and traded Luffy's place in the sky with that of a rock. Instead of falling several hundred feet, Luffy landed on the ground from a fall of half a foot or less. Steam was raising from Luffy's body, but it still appeared like he was breathing.
Gatz voice then rang out across the country again. "Dressrosa! Look into the sky! The bird cage is disappearing! Is it the bird cage that's disappearing or Doflamingo's control!?"
The strings of the bird cage started dissolving slowly. It started at the top and made it's way to the ground. Zoro and the rest didn't let up pushing against it until the strings were completely dissolved. Even then, those that were pushing didn't realize it. Zoro kept encouraging everyone to keep pushing. When the strings dissolved in front of them, the group stumbled forward as they lost the resistance. The only one that didn't fall forward was Fujitora as he sheathed his sword.
In an effort to keep Zoro from landing on her, Reecheru ducked and rolled forward. When her feet were under her she used the momentum from rolling to push up and jump out of the way. She looked around her and then towards the middle of the city. Reecheru felt herself relax, knowing that the immediate danger of Doflamingo was over. "Now then," Zoro's voice had her stiffening again. She felt one of Zoro's arms go across her back and trap her left arm to her side while his other arm went behind her knees and he lifted her. "You have some explaining to do."
"I can walk you know," Reecheru objected. "My feet weren't injured in this whole fiasco!"
"That might be true," Zoro nodded in a sage-like manner. "However, I don't want to give you the opportunity to run away from answering questions." Merissa started laughing in the background.
Reecheru turned to face Merissa with a glare. "You told him I would, didn't you!?" she accused.
"Not at all," Merissa shook her head. "It would appear that your chosen man already knows you way too well. But I've got to say..." Merissa started giggling like crazy as she pulled out a camera snail and took a picture. "I'm lovin this! Who would have known that I would finally get some blackmail material on you just by you having a man? If I had known sooner I would have hooked you up with someone before now." She ignored the glare that Zoro was pointing in her direction.
Through it all they could hear Gatz blubbering over the loud speaker. Eventually he managed to get out, "The Winner is...LUUUUUUUUUCCCYYYYYYYY!" The entire country let out a victorious cheer. Celebrating the liberation of their country from a man insane with power and his own self importance. Many tears were shed and people were clinging to each other in joy. Most hardly believing that the nightmare was finally over. Reecheru could feel Zoro tighten his grip on her just a little. She glanced up at him and saw a pleased smile on his features.
Zoro glanced down at Reecheru and shook his head. "I had been planning on taking that promise from you once the cage was down," he said. "But I suppose that I can wait until your arm is fixed up."
"What kind of kiss are you planning that I need both arms?" Reecheru's eyes narrowed on him.
"You'll just have to wait and see."
"Come with me everyone," Tank came running up. "King Riku has ordered me to take you somewhere safe to recover. There's no telling when the marines will be after you or how long it will take Straw Hat to recover."
"Where is Luffy?" Zoro asked.
"Commander Kyros and the Tontattas are bringing him and Law to a safehouse already," Tank answered. "We'll meet up with them there."
"There's still a building standing in this country?" Merissa asked.
"It's an old house that's been abandoned," Tank said. "It's out in the country and was spared from the damage of the bird cage." The crew started following Tank without any further arguments.
"I can walk Zoro." Well, almost no complaints.
They ended up at a small house in the hills, surrounded by flowers. Luffy was already bandaged and in bed. Law was on the floor in front of him, also bandaged. The group took various places inside the main room as they surrounded their captain. Usopp joined Luffy in the bed and was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. Robin and Merissa took some of the chairs that were next to the lone table. As Zoro sat on the floor, he made sure to keep Reecheru in his arms so that she was now in his lap.
"I'm not a stuffed animal," Reecheru snapped. "You don't need to keep holding me."
"It's more comfortable for you this way," Zoro reasoned.
"Just let it go Rae," Merissa said. "Personally I would be thanking him if I were you. He's making sure that you don't have to sit on the hard floor like the rest of us."
"I'm not made of glass," Reecheru rolled her eyes. "In fact, I've slept in worse places then a hard floor. This place looks like a palace compared to a cave."
Franky had been snooping around the house. He found a few preservatives to split among the group and some bottles of sake. Zoro immediately reached for a bottle and popped it open. He took a large drink and offered some to Reecheru. "No thank you," Reecheru answered. "I'm still injured, remember? Alcohol at this point could do more harm then good." Zoro accepted the refusal and took another drink.
A knock on the door drew everyone's attention. The door opened and Sabo walked in. "How is everyone?" he asked.
"We're SUPER," Franky answered. "A country liberated from an evil tyrant and a warm place to rest for a bit. What more could a group of pirates ask for?"
Sabo smiled and nodded his head. He noticed that Robin was moving to the bed. "There's no need to wake him," Sabo stopped her. "I just came to see his face one last time."
"Are you leaving already?" Robin asked.
"CP Zero have started back for Dressrosa," Sabo explained. "They're after us." Zoro watched Sabo as he took another drink from his bottle. Reecheru also watched, but her eyes were starting to droop in exhaustion. The use of the Byakugan nearly all day and the Rasen Shurikan really took their toll on her. That and the warmth Zoro was giving off with the addition of his rhythmic heartbeat. It was all she could do to stay awake.
Sabo moved to sit on the bed, wanting to be as close to Luffy as he could. "Dressrosa is going to get quite hectic in a day or two," he warned. "You guys should leave as soon as possible as well."
"Still," Zoro spoke up. "To think that there was another brother besides Ace."
Franky sat in front of a bookcase and started working on his eye. "Seriously," he said as he worked. "This is the first time I've heard of it."
"I'm sure," Sabo smiled down at Luffy. "Luffy was probably the most surprised, to be honest. I've... Well, I've been dead all this time. When we were kids Ace, Luffy and I were quite the handful. Old man Garp did his best to keep us on a short leash. But once we agreed on becoming pirates the three of us exchanged vows of brotherhood over cups of sake. But one day I met with an accident. Or, should I say, an incident." Sabo sat and explained what happened to him. How the Celestial Dragon sank his rickety boat and he was rescued by Dragon.
He continued to explain that he thought it was best to stay away from the island. So that, for now, everyone thought he was dead. This way his parents wouldn't keep searching for him and threatening Luffy and Ace. He had planned on revealing himself to his brothers, but things didn't work out that way before Ace passed away.
Sabo stood abruptly and put his hat on. "Well then, I'm off," he announced.
"Already?" Robin asked.
"I got to see his face," Sabo smiled. "By the way, this is a vivre card for Luffy. I went ahead and made one." Sabo pulled the white parchment from his pocket and handed it to Zoro.
"When'd you get the time to..." Zoro started.
"I've already taken a piece for myself," Sabo interrupted. He started heading for the door. "I can only imagine what it's like trying to keep the reigns on Luffy. Still, I'm leaving him in your hands." Sabo turned and nodded to Merissa. Reecheru was asleep at this point. "Don't forget to report to Shikaru-sama every now and then. She'll get in contact with Dragon and he'll make me chase you two down. I won't be very happy if I have to keep putting things on hold because you two can't report on a regular basis." He then turned to look at Zoro. "You make sure she doesn't do anything else stupid. I'd lecture her myself, but now I have to leave." Zoro nodded as Sabo turned and left. Robin waved cheerfully as Franky waved with tears rolling down his face.
Zoro turned to the others with a smile. "Man," he said. "That's almost the exact same thing that Ace said to us." It wasn't long before the rest of the crew had fallen into their own healing slumber. Before she followed the others, Merissa took a blanket and placed it on top of Zoro and Reecheru. She smiled when she saw his eye open to look at her. "So she can't escape from you easily," she teased.
Inhaling deeply, Reecheru's eyes slowly opened. The first conscious thought she had was that she was surrounded by warmth. The second was that she didn't remember going to bed or pulling up the blanket. She looked down to see a wool blanket pulled up to her chin. She tried to move her arms out of the blanket. Her right arm was unresponsive, confusing Reecheru at first until she remembered the events of the day. Her left arm was trapped under something heavier than a blanket.
Reecheru lifted her head a bit to try to see what was going on. Just over her shoulder she found Zoro's face close to her own, sound asleep. His breathing was slow and deep, warm puffs of air shifting strands of her hair. Reecheru slowly faced forward once again. She took a deep breath to center herself. Then she began to wiggle her left arm free, bit by slow bit.
Just as Reecheru thought her arm would be free Zoro shifted. His arm came up and around her shoulders. It encased her from her left arm to her right shoulder. One of his legs then came up and intertwined with hers. Reecheru now found herself thoroughly trapped by this man she was falling in love with.
She was having mixed feelings about the whole situation. Back in Konoha the men, or boys if you looked at their behavior, were rarely interested. They mostly saw Reecheru as wild and untamable or too strong. Most male ninjas were only interested in having a woman around to show off to, to show they could protect her. They were put off by women like Reecheru and Merissa who were independent and refused to have to rely on any man. Needless to say, these feelings were new to Reecheru. She wasn't certain if she should trust them or not.
"Go back to sleep," Zoro said softly. His voice was more gruff than usual due to having just woke up. "We'll talk once we've gotten enough sleep." Reecheru closed her eyes in defeat. It was obvious he wasn't going to relent. She hesitantly leaned her head back. The way Zoro was holding her forced her head to naturally turn. Now her face was tucked firmly in the crook of Zoro's neck. She fell back asleep with all her senses being over-ridden by everything Zoro.
PuddyKatz asked where all the Zoro/OC was. I hope that this will do for now. :D. I don't usually update in the middle of my work week, I feel like it's a bit of a rush job. I'm not sure if this chapter meets up to the standards that's been put upon this story. The next arc of Ninja Pirates will be a filler, instead of following in cannon with the manga. Looking forward to writing it. Have a good rest of the week.
